There were some unique circumstances surrounding Destrehan’s Week 2 matchup against visiting Bonnabel.
Due to Hurricane Francine, the game was moved from Friday night to noon Sunday. In addition, Destrehan, already missing starting running back Shane Ward, was without starting quarterback Jackson Fields, who was sidelined by injury as well for the game. In his stead, A’ushai Smith – the rare freshman to start at quarterback for Destrehan – took the reins of the offense. And this was the first game since Week 2 of 2020 to see the Wildcats answering a loss in a regular season game, after the team’s streak of 33 regular season wins in a row was snapped by Catholic-Baton Rouge last week.
Some of this, perhaps, – as well as a very game Bonnabel squad – helped contribute to a slow start for DHS on Sunday. But the Wildcats finished fast, finishing the Bruins for a 31-0 victory to move to 1-1 on the season.
Leading 7-0 late in the second quarter, Phillip Wright III provided the spark Destrehan needed to get rolling. He took a jet sweep 61 yards for a touchdown to push the Wildcats to a 14-0 halftime advantage. DHS didn’t look back from there.
That score was one of Wright’s two touchdowns on the day – he posted an efficient 91 yards on three touches, with one 30 yard scoring reception and two rushes for 66 yards.
Smith answered the bell when called on, debuting by completing 5-of-6 pass attempts for 72 yards and two touchdowns, including scoring passes to Wright and Johnnie Thiel IV. Jabari Mack had five touches for 59 yards. Running backs Malachi Dabney and Tony Crump combined to carry 16 times for 99 yards, with Crump scoring a touchdown. Destrehan rushed for 212 yards on the game.
Scott said he was pleased with how Smith answered the call in his first prep start.
“As a freshman, starting the second game of the year, that’s a pretty big deal … he handled himself well. He was poised – I thought he did a good job managing everything,” said Destrehan head coach Marcus Scott.
Destrehan (1-1) leaned on the running game to take the pressure off of Smith as much as possible. The team leaned on its two sophomore running backs, Dabney and Crump, but mixed in several other offensive weapons into the rushing attack in a variety of ways – wide receivers Mack, Wright and Greg Wilfred all took carries for Destrehan.
“You have to make sure to protect your freshman quarterback. The best way to do that is with a running game, and to get your best players the ball in different ways. We were able to get all our receivers touches as well as our running backs. We just had to be a bit creative with it to make it work.” Scott said.
Bonnabel (1-1) meanwhile, looked to shorten the game through a ball-control attack of runs and short passes, and it was a plan that kept the Bruins within striking distance for most of the first half. The Wildcats defense was able to stand tall when Bonnabel got within striking distance, however, and gained momentum as the game went on – in the end, Destrehan captured its first shutout of the season.
Preparing for this game – with all of the different, out of routine elements – presented some new challenges. The team’s versatility helped in that area, Scott said.
“It’s a group effort. Certainly a good job by the staff, being able to plug in and play guys in different positions – we have guys who spot play on both sides of the ball,” Scott said. “So, I think they’ve done a good job of mixing kids in from the other side of the ball to make things work, offensively and defensively, for what we’ve needed to get done.”
